Protect the South Shore Corridor
- Route 15 Bus; Advocate and monitor this South Shore bus and other routes that connect to this primary artery to preserve service.
- Freeway Flyer; ensure continued operation through South Shore corridor
- Find a dedicated funding source for transit to save property tax dollars.
Route 15
During my first full term in office, I had to fight to preserve Route 15 every year during budget. In several years, the elimination of the route loomed over our district. We have many elderly residents in the South Shore and transportation is critical to them. In addition, transportation is very important for employers and employees. The employers depend on good transportation so that a ready pool of workers are available, employees need the bus to get to their jobs. Students also depend on transportation. Our economic development efforts also depend on transit. New businesses ask if the location is served by good transportation alternatives. For all of these reasons, I have been a strong advocate for our buses.
Freeway Flyer
Route 48 is a popular flyer in the South Shore along with others. Many employees that work down town depend on the flyer so they do not have to pay to park. It is critical for us to preserve these routes.
Dedicated Funding
Currently Milwaukee County depends on State Transportation Funding and local property taxes, the state funding has been dwindling because of lower gasoline usage thus putting more pressure use of the local property tax. Our transit system is the only large city system that uses local property taxes to support buses. Most cities have a dedicated source of funding for transit, largely sales tax or other use tax. I will continue to explore dedicated funding and at the same time insist on reducing our property taxes, not just supplanting it with a new project.
